The demand for clean and healthy drinking water is increasing dramatically, which is being driven by the rapid growth in population and standards of living across the globe. This demand has translated into a continuing need for safe, clean, and easy to use water dispensers, including for both hot and cold water.
Many of the currently-available water dispensers suffer from at least several drawbacks. First, many of these water dispensers employ the use of lever faucets that are activated, i.e., cause water to be dispensed, by turning a faucet handle (lever) around an axis. This type of water dispensing actuator is not ergonomically preferred, insofar as the human hand and wrist must be contorted to turn the lever (which contortion is exacerbated by the fact that such dispensing actuators are often located in a relatively confined area of the water dispenser). In addition, many of the currently-available water dispensers, having conventional turn-style faucet actuators, include valve assemblies which are exposed to the air, thereby increasing the amount of air contact, potential human contact, and risk of contamination. Still further, many of the currently-available water dispensers do not include suitable child-proof mechanisms, which prevent a child from dispensing water, particularly hot water, without parent supervision.
As the following will demonstrate, many of the foregoing problems with currently-available water dispensers are addressed by the present invention.